Homes along Pilchuck aren’t the problem
Published 11:37 am Sunday, March 20, 2016
Regarding Mr. William Lider’s March 14, letter, “Home developers caused problem,” clearly, he is divorced from the reality of our situation and our community.
Most homes in the Lochaven Estates have been there since the 1950s. This is an older community. All of the homes that were built on the banks of the Pilchuck River had anywhere from 200 to 350 feet of setback from the original river channel with hundreds of trees — none of which were cut down for the view, or for any other reason. The historic channel of the Pilchuck for hundreds of years indicates it has not migrated nor had given any indication of migrating from the straight path it traveled through our backyards for hundreds of years. No bend was ever here until 2015.
The floodway fringe way used to be a massive raspberry patch with an assortment of fruit trees, cedars, firs, hemlocks, cherry, alde, and cottonwood. None of these trees were ever cut down to build. Mr. Lider is wrong when he stated we removed the naturally protective barrier. Mr. Lider is also incorrect in his statement that we have “expansive” lawns affording spectacular views next to a magnificent river. The Pilchuck used to be a small river, unseen from every home; you had to walk quite a ways to even see the river because of all the naturally protective barrier.
In all the time we’ve been here, along with folks who have lived here for 35-plus years, not one homeowner fertilized the floodway fringe way. The natural underground water table kept them green — even in hot summers — another point Mr. Lider is incorrect about. Mr. Lider is incorrect in his assumptions and speaking out of context in his comments pertaining to our situation. Not one of our backyards have had problems with moles or cracks from the removal of trees. And the critical areas requirements were quite strict when the newest of homes were built. It was part of the building process to plant more trees as mitigation; and to create naturally cooling habitat protection for the newest homes in our community.
Mr. Lider is not a geotechnical engineer nor is he an expert on what has transpired in our community since the 581 bridge supports were altered to retrain the river to flow directly at the right bank. His letter clearly indicates this fact. He is not qualified to be making assumptions based on his personal feelings about land development for our community. He has never lived in this community and apparently hasn’t done the necessary research to educate himself on the migration of the Pilchuck River. He calls our situation “avoidable” and inflicts some very harsh judgments where he is not qualified to do so.
People like Mr. Lider have no business making claims such as he has when they are, quite frankly, devoid of the facts. It’s people like him, making outlandish claims and accusations, as he has, that keep our courts busy. Every action has a reaction. I would recommend he proceed with caution if he feels it’s necessary to continue his campaign to condemn our community with false commentary.
Dawn Roberts is the public information officer for Lochaven Homeowners Group, LLC.
